Dr Young is the Queensland Chief Health Officer and one of the Deputy Directors-General in the Department of Health. She has specialist qualifications as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and as a Fellow by Distinction of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. She is an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, QUT and UQ.

Her normal role includes responsibility for health disaster planning and response; aeromedical retrieval services; licensing of private hospitals and schools of anatomy; policy regarding organ and tissue donation, blood, medicines and poisons, cancer screening, communicable diseases, environmental health, preventive health; and medical workforce planning and leadership. Since January 2020 she has been the State Health Incident Controller for the management of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Whilst she has concentrated on the pandemic response Bronwyn Nardi followed by Professor Keith McNeil have been Acting DDG for Prevention Division.

Dr Young is a member of numerous state and national committees and boards including the National Medical and Medical Research Council and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.